Improvement in knitting-machines



, N. FEVERS. PHUTo-LITHOGRAIMER, WASHINGTON D c UNITED STATES PATENT (")EErcEG JAMES Gr. WILSON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TO UNION SEAMLESS KNITTING MACHINE COMPANY.

IMPROVEMENT IN KNlTTlNG-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 55,434., dated June 5, 1866.

To alt whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES G. WILSON, ot' the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Iml'irovements in Knitting Machinery, and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part ot' this specification, in which- Figure lis a central vertical section oi" a circular-knitting machine with my improvements. Fig. 2 is a plan otl the same. Fig. 3 is a hori Zontal section of the same in a plane passing very nea-r the bottom of the needle-ring. Fig. 4 is a horizontal section ot' the needle-ring in the plane indicated by the line w .fr in Fig. 1.

Fig; 5 is a side view ot' the cam and its appendages for producing the rotary movement ot' the needle-ring. Fig. 6 is a back view of the needlering and its stationary casing.

Similar letters ot' reference indicate corresponding parts in the several tigures.

This invention consists in the employment, for the purpose oi' controlling the direction and changes ot' direction ot" the rotating movement of the needle-ring ol a circular-knitting machine about its axis, or for the purpose ot' changing the direction ot the movement of the needle-bar of a straight-lmitting machine, of a studded wheel which has no movement in a direction parallel with its axis and which makes but one revolution to effect all the changes in the movement of the needle-ring necessary to completeastockingoranyotherknitted article.

It also consists 1n certain novel mechanism through which. the said wheel acts to cause the movement ofthe needle-ring upon its axis in a circular machine or thelongitudinal movement ot' the needle-bar in a straight machine to take place in one direction or the other; also, in a certain novel system of needles by which the knitting is enabled to be performed at one and the same time with separate and distinct yarns on several immediately adjacent needles.

And it further consists in a certain mode of combining yarn-guides and a presser with the aforesaid studded wheel and longitudinally moving series of needles.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.`

A is a bed-plate, which,with its supporting standards B `B, constitutes the framing of the machine. O is the needle-ring titted to rotate in a suitable bearing, halt ot' which is formed by a semioircular recess in the bed-plate A, and the other haltl in a bow, D, bolted to the bed-plate by bolts ad. This ring, whose general form is tha-tot1 an upright cylinder, has its exterior grooved longitudinally Jfor the reception ot' the needles b b, which are represented ofthe liexible bearded kind common to the oldest knitting-machines,bntwhieh may beot'other kinds, the said needles being titted to slide freely up and down in the said grooves, and heilig contlned therein by a stationary cylind rica-leasing, E, which tits loosely over the ring, and which is secured to the bed-plate A in any suitable manner. The depth ot' the grooved portion ot the needle-ring is equal to or slightly greater than the length of the needles, so that the needles may be received entirely within the needle-ring and the casing E, as shown at the right-hand side ot' the needle-ring in Fig. 1. The needles are each made with two outward )ro'ections c c', on the lower )arts ofthe outerl sides ot their shanks, t'or the reception between them ot' the edge of a plate, F, (see Figs. l and 4,) which is attached to a lever, G, working on a tixed fulcrum, d, for the purpose otl producing the necessarylongitudinal movement of the needles. The lower part of the stationary casing E is enlarged, asshown in Fig. 1, to make room for the projections cc on the needles, and a shoulder, c, is formed inside ot it, where the enlargement commences, the height ot' such shoulder being such that it just allows the upper projectionsc',of the needles to pass under it when the needles are entirely within the ring, and prevents the needles rising while in any position excepting when opposite to an opening, f f, provided in the back of the casing E, as shown in Figs. l, et, and 6, for the reception of the plate F, the said opening being wide enough to expose at one time the Shanks ot' one more than the number of needles upon which it is desired to knit simultaneously, and the length of the said plate being sufficient to enable it to enter between the projections c c of all the so exposed needles. The rotating motion of the needle-ringis intermittent, and the longitudinal movement up and down ot' those needles which are opposite the opening ff alternates with the rotating movement of the ring and the whole series of needles; and the distances of the latter movements are snt cient to carry one needle away from the openingff and present another needle opposite to the said opening. The plate F, instead of being made to pass between two projections 0n the needles, may be grooved longitudinally to receive single projections on the needles.

To provide for the rotating motion of the needle-ring it is furnished round its lower end with teeth q g, to be operated upon by one of two pawls, hh', attached by pinsjj to a slide, H, which is fitted to iixed horizontal guides it' under the bed-plate, and which derives a movement back and forth in the said guides from a grooved cam,1, on the horixontal main shaft J of the machine, the groove l0 (see Fig. 5) in the said cam receiving an antifriction roller, i, secured to the saidY slide. The said pawls It h are situated on opposite sides of the needle-ring, and have springs Z l applied to them in such manner as to exert a con stant tendency to make them engage with the teeth g g, but one or other of them is always held out of gear by one of the arms of a forked or three-armed lever, K L L', which is arranged below the slide H on a lixcd fulcrum-pin, m, secured in the bed-plate, said fulcrnm passing through a slot, a, (see FiO. 3,) provided for it in the slide H. The needlering` will be caused to rotate in one direct-ion or the other, according as the pawl It or l1. isin gear with the teeth g g.

Fig. 3 shows It in gear and the needle-ring rotating in the direction of the arrow marked upon it, but by a movement of the arm K of the lever K L L' in the direction ot' the arrow marked upon its extremity the arm L of the said lever is caused to throw the pawl h out of gear, and the arm L of the said .lever is caused to permit the spring Z to throw h into gear, and so the direction ot' the rotation of the needle-ring is caused to be reversed by the shifting of the said lever, for which purpose the arm K ot' the said lever is situated directly over the studded wheel or drum M, which constitutes one of the most important features of this invention, such wheel being' secured immovably to a horizontal shaft, N, which is fitted to rotate in fixed bearings at the back of the machine, but which is permitted no longitudinal motion. rlhis wheel has but a narrow surface, as it only requires to have two r0v.s of studs, p p and p p', one row to act upon an inclined surface, 1, (see Figs. 2 and 3,) 011 one side of the arm K of the lever K L L', for the purpose ot' shifting the lever in one direction, and the other row to act upon a similar inclined surface, q', on the opposite side of the said arm, to shift the lever in the other direction. The said studs p p and p 19 are provided in such number and arranged at such distances apart on the wheel M that the said wheel, making one complete revolution in the direction ot' the arrows shown on it in Figs. l and 2, while a stocking or other connplete article is being knitted, will shift the lever whenever it becomes necessary or desira ble to reverse the rotary motion of the needlering-as, for instance, in knitting the toe and heel of a stocking. rlhe revolution of the said wheel is intended to be very slow, except when a stud, p or p', arrives in a position to act upon the lever K L L', when it must be moved quickly far enough to enable the stud to effect the necessary movement of the lever.

The slow movement is effected by the action of a pawl, O, on a series of very iine ratchetteeth, rr, with which the wheel is provided all round one side of its rim, the said pawl being attached to a lever, O', which works horizontally on a fixed fulcrum, s, secured to the bedplate A, and the'said lever deriving its movement on its fulcrum from its connection, by a rod, t', with a crank-wrist, t, carried by a spurgear, P, which is tted to rotate on a xed stud, t2, secured to the bed-plate, and which gears with a pinion, P', of much smaller size, on the main shaft. The wheel is moved by these means only to the extent of one tooth of the ratchet for each revolution of the gear P, which makes but one revolution for about four of the main shaft. The quicker' move.- ment-s, which take place whenever a stud, p or p, arrives in position to act upon the lever K L L', are produced by the action upon such stud itself ot a pawl, Q, which is secured to the slide H by a screw, a'. As soon as a stud passes this pawl, with the movement effected by the action ot' the pawl O on the ratchetteeth r r, the said pawl Q, drops behind the said stud, and the next backward movement otl the slide H,produced by the cam l, brings the said pawl into action upon the said stud, and so forces the stud against thc inclined surface q or q of the lever and effects the shifting thereof. The pawls O and Q both work through guides c under the bed-plate. The pawl Q is forked for the lever K L L to pass through it.

To prevent the accidental shifting of the lever, a lockingspring, It, is applied to press upon it, but this spring and the part of the lever on which it acts is beveled so that the lever can press it upward to pass it when the studspp come into operation on it.

The operation of the lever Gr to give the needles the movement upward to the position shown at the left-hand side ofthe needle-ring in Fig. 1, and down again to a position within the ring like that shown at the righthand side of' the ring and its casing in the same tigure, is effected by means of a grooved cam, S, on the main shaft J, the groove 12 in the said cam receiving a pin, w, which is secured in a rod, Gr, attached to the lever G, and which is also connected by a bridle-rod, wf, with a fixed pin, wz, secured to the bed-plate.

The camis so formed that during` one quarter of each revolution it raises the needles from within the ring, during the n'ext quarter it leaves them stationary in their elevated position, during the third quarter it lowers them,

and during the last quarter it leaves them stationary within the ring.

The rotating movement of the ring .takes place while the needles are stationary in their lowest position. The projections c c then meet with no obstruction, but pass regularly, one at a time, onto the plate F as they are presented opposite the opening f f in the case E.

U is a horizontal rock-shaft arranged in bearings in standards U U erected upon the back part of the bed-plate A. This rock-shaft has two arms, U2 U2, connected by a plate, U4, which both carries the yarnvguides y y and the presser T; and the rock-shaft has a third arm, U3, which carries an anti-friction roller, 15, which is received in a groove, 13, in a cam, V, on the main shaft. The yarn'conductors consist simply ot' eyes attached rigidly to the front edge ot' a plate, y', which is secured to the plate U4 by screws 14 14. The number of conductors is equal to the number ot' needles upon which it is intended to knitat once, or, in other words, onc less than the number of adjacent needles raised simultaneously by the operation of the lever G, and

lthey are arranged at distances apart corresponding with the distances between the needles. The presser T consists ot' a bar or plate havin g its front edge turned downward and curved to conform to a circle circumscribing the needles, the length of the said bar or plate being sufficient "to enable it to operate simultaneously on as many immediately adjacent needles as are raised simultaneously by the lever G. lt is secured to the plate U* below the yarn-conductor plate y bythe same. screws 14 14 which secure the latter plate, the said screws passing through slots in U4 and y' and screwing into tapped holes in the presser, the slots providing for the adjustment of the yarn conductors and presser in a backward and forward direction. The cam V, by its action on the roller 15, gives the yarircoliductors and presser a movement obliquely downward and forward toward the needles and back again, the forward and downward movement taking place just before the descent of the needles,

" and the return or backward and upward movement taking place while the needles are in their lowest position and the needle-ring is making its rotary movement. The yarns, one for each needle and conductor, are supplied from separate spools arranged in any suitable position. The downward and forward movementoftheyarn-coiuluctors and presser toward the needles brings the yarnconductors to such a position relatively to the needles that the needles in their descent will receive their threads to form a series of loops, and brings the presser into such a position that after the needles have received the threads their ilexible beards, by coming in contact with the presser, will be closed to enable them to pass into the loops last formed upon them, and hence will be caused to carry the new series of loops through the old ones and slip out of or cast off the old ones. The backward and I upward movement of the yarn-conductors and presser simply takes them out of the way of the yarns and needles. The yarn-conductors require a lateral movement every time the direction of the rotation ot' the needle-ring is changed, in order that they may severally be always in proper relation to the needles which are receiving the yarn from them. This movement is produced by connecting the arm U3 of the rock-shaft U with the lever'K L L by a rod, W, which causes the rock-shaft, every time the said lever is shifted, to derive a proper longitudinal movementin one direction or the other, as may be required.

In operating with a machine fitted with 'a studded wheel, M, as describethfor the purpose ot' controlling and changing the direction ofthe revolution ot' the needle-ring, the knitting may be commenced in any part ot'a stocking orother article, according to the position in which the wheel M may happen to be; but as the said wheel maybe turned by hand in the direction of the arrow marked upon it, it may be always brought to the most convenient or favorable position for commencing the article. This kind ot'wheel, and the means described for combining it with the needle-ring, may be used in connection with needles having no flexible beards and having no longitudinal motion.

The operation of the within-described circular system of flexible bearded needles and presser will have been understood by the foregoing description .to resemble, in a great degree, the operation ofthe corresponding parts ofthe old-fashioned English knitting-machine5 but the operation ofthe said system of needles, in connection with the yarltconductors, will have been understood to resemble that of the corresponding parts of another well-known kind of knitting-machine. The system ot' needles, yarn-conductors and presser represented is intended to combine the best characteristics ot' both those kinds ot' machines in such manner as to make a very .simple and at the same a very perfect workin g and rapidlyolierating machine.

In a former application for Letters Patent I havedescribed and claimed the combination of yarnconductors, needles, pressers, and stitchhooks for knitting with separate yarns on two or more immediately adjacent or consecutive needles, the object ofsuch combination being to knit more rapidly than can be. done by the ma# chines previously known and to produce work of better quality. The resulteffected by theinvention herein describedviz., the knitting with separate yarns on immediately adjacent or consecutive needlesis the same, but the means of carrying it out are much more simple. The same result n'iay, however, be accomplished by a variety ot' mechanical devices, and therefore I have desired to be understood in my previous application as claiming, broadly, the first discovery of an organized system of needles and yarn-conductors and their adjuncts for carrying out such result. The speciication of that application describes a system ot' needles having no longitudinal movement, but this specitication describes a system ot' needles having a reciprocating longitudinal movement, which enables the result to be obtained with less mechanism, and the present invention may therefore be regarded as a further carrying out ot' or an improvement upon my former one.

The value of the discover \1 of a mode of knitting upon immediately adjacent or consecutive needles is made apparent from the fact that it enables at least three stockings to be knit in the same time that one was knit by machines having similar elements to that described in my last application, prior to that discovery.

rllhe latch-needle in common use may be applied and used in the within-described machinein substantially the same manner as the flexible bearded needle.

The same system of needles and yarn-conductors, with the whole ofthe within-described actuating and controlling mechanism, may be adapted to a straight machine; and for knitting drawers and shirts or any other straightor tubular fabrics, for which a reciprocating movement or change of direction of the needlering or needle-bar is unnecessary, the whole of the needles used in a machine constructed according` to this invention may be made to move up and down at once, and the yarnguides, one for every needle, may be made to oscillate just far enough to throw the yarn under the hook or beard of each needle. vFor example, a needle-ring or needle-bar having tive hundred needles in it, and having a reciprocating motion at a speed ot' about live hundred strokes per minute, making ve hundred stitches per minute on each needle, (which is less than the usual speed of the machine,) would produce two hundred and fifty thousand stitches per minute, and hence this machine must be capable of knitting much more quickly than any other machine in use.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is an organized machine for knitting. composed -ot' elements substantially as detailed by the following separate claims, numbered from l to 11.

l. The employment, for the purpose of controlling the direction and changes of direction of the rotary motion of the needle-rin g or needle-bar of a knitting-machine, ot' a studded wheel or drum so constructed, applied, and operating that it performs its duty without any movement in a direction parallel with its axis, as herein described.

2. So constructing and operating the aforesaid wheel or drum, having no movement in a direction parallel with its axis, that it will make but one revolution during the operation of making a complete stocking or other knitted article, as herein specified. I

3. Combining the aforesaid studded wheel or drum, having no movement parallel with its axis, with a slide, H, and pawls h h, or their equivalents, which produce the rotarY movement of the needle-rin g ot' a circular-knittin g m achine by means ot a three-armed lever, K L L', constructed, applied, and operating substantially as herein specified.

4. Giving the studded Wheeler drum a compound rotary motion, viz., a slow motion to bring its studs toan operative position and a quicker motion to produce the action of its studs upon the needle-ring or needle-bar, substantially as herein described.

5. The employment, in a circular or straight knitting machine of the specified kind herein described, ot a system of needles having lon- `gitudinal and lateral movements alternately,

and operating substantially as herein specified.

6. rlhe combination, with a system ot' needles having a longitudinal reciprocating motion, when used in a machine constructed specifically as herein described, of a system ot' yarnconductors so applied as to deliver yarn' to immediately adjacent or consecutive needles, substantially as herein specified.

7. The plate F, either fitting between two projections, c c', on the needles, as represented in the drawings, or, whatis equivalent, grooved to receive single projections on the needles.

and operating substantially as and for the purl pose herein specified.

8. The vibrating presser, applied and operating in combination with a laterally and longitudinally moving series otl needles, substantially as herein specified.

9. Combining the yarn-guides and presser, substantially as herein specified, to be operated by the same mechanism.

10. rlhe combination of a system of needles and a system of yarn-guides operating automatically, in conjunction with a yielding compressor and bridge Jfor carrying and removing the needles, without the use of stitch-hooks for taking off the stitches, in such manner as to knit simultaneously on two or more immediately adj acent or consecutive needles, substantially as herein described.

11. The combination of the studded wheel or drum M, having no movement parallel with its axis, and a seri-es ot' needles and yarn-conductors so applied as to effect the knitting simultaneously with separate yarns on immediately adjacent needles.

JAMES Gr. VILSON.

Witnesses:

LEWIS A. TUCKER, J AMES LAIRD. 

